


son of apollo

by gymthree



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Fluff, HoO - Freeform, KuroTsuki Festival Week 2018, KuroTsuki Week, Kurotsuki Fest Week, M/M, Minor Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Minor Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Minor Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Mythology - Freeform, PJO, PJO AU, Percy Jackson AU, Prompt: Mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 13:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15144326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gymthree/pseuds/gymthree
Summary: Anyone with a brain would love Camp Half-Blood.





	son of apollo

**Author's Note:**

> my (almost late) addition to kurotsuki week! day 2! i went all out on this AU, i absolutely adore the PJO/HOO universe and i couldn't help it.  
> this is unbeta'd, so please tell me if there's any mistakes! also, if i portrayed something about CHB wrong, please tell me, too!

Anyone with a brain would love Camp Half-Blood.

Teens from all across the United States meet in a large camp, with nice weather, plenty of activities, good food and above-average sleeping quarters. It’s the recipe to a good summer. Especially when it’s the only place you feel safe, being the child of _Greek fucking gods._

Kei wasn’t a big fan, but he didn’t despise it, or anything. All the other demigods just had a different vibe, he guessed.

He wasn’t big for outdoor activities, but in the camp, he didn’t really have any other option. If he’d been Athena’s son, maybe he could stay inside reading, studying or whatever, but his cabin happened to be constantly full, or ruined by one of his siblings’ pranks.

When he found someone to complain to, they told him it was even worse when their parents didn’t claim the demigods, and the Hermes cabin was stacked up with all sorts of people. Kei got it, got why he would probably have hated it, but a part of him feels like it would’ve been better back then. There would be so many people in his cabin, no one would have noticed if he just stayed inside all day.

Before he came to Camp Half-Blood for the first time, he was always singled out in the groups of kids at school. He wasn’t exactly bullied – he didn’t let himself be. He was taller than any other kid in his year, so he held himself high and acted as if everyone else was also metaphorically smaller than he was. He didn’t have friends, but neither did he mind.

Kei was graduating middle school when a monster attacked him for the first time. He was walking back home from school, one or two weeks before his summer holidays began, when an aeternus stopped him and attacked. Luckily, or maybe not luck – thankfully, he was with his only friend, Tadashi, who he then found out was a satyr. After that ‘incident’, he was taken to Camp Half-Blood for the summer.

There, he learned that his dad wasn’t also Akiteru’s, as he’d believed growing up. The story he’d been told from birth was that his mom had been in a short marriage with a guy, he and Akiteru’s dad, who had left her after his birth. A part of that was true, he did leave her after she had a child, but that child was Akiteru. Tsukishima was Hermes’ son.

For the first week, he refused to talk to any other half bloods. Kei kept himself in the cabin all day long, only coming out to eat. Tadashi tried to talk to him a couple of times, and even though he was more successful than anyone else at camp and got a few words out of Kei, the demigod felt like he’d been tricked for thirteen years, and that really, really hurt. Everyone in his life had lied to him, even his mom, his brother, and his best friend. He didn’t know how he could trust them anymore.

A couple more weeks passed, and he started getting used to the whole idea of being a demigod, so he asked Tadashi to tell him more. The least he could do to be able to judge fairly his situation was to be informed about it. He heard about how his smell was faint, living with a full-mortal brother, and how he could make use of his powers. He wasn’t like a son of Poseidon, Hades or Zeus, which he learned were the “big three”, who had the ability to control things like water, skies or the dead. He was just sneakier, faster, had more of an eye for detail.

Once he started hanging around the camp, he started observing that nearly all the other demigods were extroverted, or at least more extroverted than him. The groups that were always hanging around the volleyball court kept inviting him to play with him, definitely because of his height, but he declined every time. He wasn’t a sports person, and volleyball made him think of his brother, back home, which he didn’t want – at the same time that he felt like his brother and mom had tricked him, he also felt like he’d betrayed them.

He started getting used to a few faces - Shouyou, son of Ares, who somehow got along really well with Kenma, a quiet son of Athena. Kiyoko, Shouyou’s sister, who everyone rumoured to be close to the Hunters, until she started going out with Hitoka, daughter of Epione.

And, of course, there was _the trio._

Once you first saw them, Tetsurou and Koutarou were both hard to forget. Respectively, the son of Apollo and the son of Iris had… _quaint_ hairstyles and _characteristic_ faces. After you caught a single glance at the rat’s-nest black hair and the gel-heavy black-and-white hair, you started noticing them everywhere you went, everywhere they were. Not just that, but they were tall, bulky and loud, so it was basically impossible _not_ to see them. Kei had yet to figure out, though, why Keiji, peaceful son of Thetis, hung out with the two of them.

Everyone in Camp Half-Blood knew the three of them, for various reasons. Despite none of them being children of war gods, competitiveness ran in their bloods, be it during sword fighting, canoeing, climbing, playing volleyball or in capture the flag. Although they were strong together, it was common for Tetsurou and Koutarou to, somehow, find a way to go against each other.

Kei would say he knew just as much about those three as anyone else, but deep within, he knew it wasn’t true.

His first substantial interaction with one of the three was when his necklace had already gathered two beads, and he was on his way to the third one.

Now, after sophomore year of high school, he was taller than ever, sporting over 190cm. He’d made a few friends across the two full summers in camp, and between them were Hitoka, Kenma, Koushi, son of Aphrodite, and, kind of unfortunately, Shouyou. He’d learned to be around people that took him out of his comfort zone, and when he spent time with Tadashi – who was so busy in the beginning and end of the summer, Kei barely got to see him -, he could see his best friend was proud.

In the first couple of weeks of summer, while the camp was still filling up, he’d finally given into a couple volleyball games. He wasn’t very good at it, haven’t played much, but he was tall and that was a big advantage when blocking, so he’d managed to stop a few attacks, and that’d been fulfilling. Shouyou kept pestering him to play with him, but all Kei had to do was put a hand on Shouyou’s forehead to successfully keep him away.

When Kei turned back after the end of a game and saw Tetsurou watching him, his stomach flipped bitterly, and he felt the need to run and hide in his cabin.

Obviously, he didn’t, because he wasn’t _five._ He walked to the bench and took long swigs from one of the water bottles, looking down to the ground and just waiting, waiting for what he knew would come.

“Hey, you’re Kei, right?”

See?

Kei looked up, and Tetsurou was grinning at him. “You can call me Tsukishima.”

Tetsurou didn’t even flinch, “Ooh, cold. How about Tsukki? Middle ground?”

“Tsukishima.”

“Okay, Tsukki,” Tetsurou chuckled, and took a seat beside him. Kei slid a little further away. “You know, I was watching you, and I think you really have some volleyball potential.”

“I’m not interested,” Kei responded, dryly, fixing his glasses.

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he sighed, standing up and looking back shortly. “I’m not interested.”

As he walked away, he could feel Tetsurou’s eyes still stuck on him, and it felt like fire. Kei didn’t know how he felt about that.

Later, he realised he’d been lucky only Tetsurou came to talk to him and the rest of his group hadn’t arrived yet; he would’ve been trapped, in a way, between Tetsurou and Koutarou’s insistency, and under Keiji’s cold, analytical gaze. He was better off this way, getting things clear for once, and hoping for a calm summer.

The next day, he realised he was going to get anything but a calm summer.

During breakfast, he was eating quietly amidst his siblings, until he suddenly felt his ears burn, his neck prickle. He looked up, and quickly detected _someone_ in the Apollo table was looking at him. Kei refused to let Tetsurou catch him watching back, though, so he looked back down and rolled his eyes silently.

By the weekend, the camp was full again, so the game of capture the flag had gone smoothly. The Athena team had won gracefully over Ares, and the celebrations were long and peaceful, much more relaxed then they’d have been if the other alliance had achieved victory. Kei spent the evening chatting with Tadashi, who had just arrived in the camp, but he couldn’t help noticing the trio whispering to each other and looking at him occasionally.

It sure was bothersome, but he willed himself to let it slip.

‘Letting it slip’ became harder and harder as the days passed.

He wasn’t tormented daily, and when any of the three did call him to join them in whatever, it was kindly and quietly, and they never insisted. Still, they kept stealing glances at him, Tetsurou especially. Maybe they weren’t aware that he could tell; he didn’t tell them off or look at them nastily or anything. He was polite, if anything.

June was nearing its end when someone came to talk to Kei directly. Unlike his expectations, it wasn’t Tetsurou, Koutarou or Keiji. In fact, it was Kenma, so Kei didn’t back off initially. They were picking strawberries in the fields, crouched and under the kind of harsh sunlight. Kei hated getting this duty, because he was fucking 6’3 and pale as hell, but he didn’t have place to complain, since all campers had to help.

“Hey, Kei,” Kenma said, quietly.

“Yes?” He looked up, a bit confused, because it was rarer for Kenma to start conversation than it was for Kei, and he wasn’t very talkative himself.

“Why do you always decline doing things with Kuro and his gang?”

More often than not, Kei forgot Kenma and Tetsurou were close friends. Most people learned that they grew up together, having to combat quite a few monsters because of the collective smell of two Olympians’ kids. No one knew, though, how their friendship lasted regardless of all the differences between them.

“They’re not really my kind of people,” Kei muttered, moving onto the next forb.

“Do you know them enough to be able to tell?”

Kei looked up, and swallowed thickly when he met Kenma’s sharp gaze. Not many people were able to shut him up, make him speechless, but Kenma had such certainty in his words, his quiet voice didn’t matter - everyone heard him.

“They’re good people, even if they don’t look it,” he sighed, going back to picking strawberries, and moving on a couple forbs even though Kei was struck still, behind him. “Keiji’s great. Kuro too. I don’t know Koutarou very well, but even if they’re loud, I’m sure he’s just as good.” Kenma looked back at him, and flashed a tiny smile. “Give them a chance.”

Kenma’s voice repeated itself in his mind as Kei went to sleep that night, lying in his bed and looking up at the ceiling. ‘Give them a chance.’ Maybe he should, after all. They would probably turn out to be whom he thought they were, and then he could just move on.

Kenma definitely told Tetsurou he’d talked to Kei. Right after breakfast, as Kei headed to the canoe lake, he heard quick steps behind him and turned around.

“Hey, Tsukki!” Tetsurou grinned, a little less slyly than usual, but just as wide.

“Please do not call me that,” Kei exhaled.

“Sure, four-eyes. You’re going to canoeing?”

The blonde frowned. “Where else would I be going?”

“Arts and crafts, Big House, I don’t know. Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why…?”

As if it was somehow possible, Tetsurou’s grin widened. “Canoeing’s also my scheduled activity.”

Which was a blatant lie, really, and Kei knew it was. He’d been having the same schedule for a few weeks now, and he knew who shared activities with him; Tetsurou had not once been in the same assigned canoeing period as him. There was no way he’d skipped week after week of activities, because the camp’s supervision simply wouldn’t let that go on.

He probably switched schedules with someone for the morning. Kei just couldn’t get a grasp on why; he wasn’t that important of a person to talk to, Tetsurou could definitely talk to him after lunch, or something. Why the urgency?

Tetsurou insisted to the activity inspector that he and Kei would share a canoe – he did it quietly, hoping the Hermes’ son wouldn’t notice, but of course, he did. He still couldn’t figure out why Tetsurou wanted to be with him so bad, but he had to give him a chance.

While they practiced, rowing across the lake, Tetsurou did his best to keep casual banter going between them, and Kei did his best not to shut him off. He wanted to laugh, because the Apollo kid clearly wasn’t very experienced in canoeing and his arms got tired quickly, even if volleyball and archery had made him strong. He didn’t laugh, though, because he felt like that would be outright giving in.

Kei’s next activity was climbing, and Tetsurou’s was – he checked a small piece of paper quickly, squinting to read it – archery. Kei didn’t hesitate to wave him off with a small smile, but Tetsurou called, “Hey, Tsukishima, wait.”

“What’s up?”

Tetsurou looked almost uneasy, face flushed from the physical exercise, taking fast breaths in and out. “Do you want to hang around me, Bo and Keiji tonight? In the campfire?”

This invitation was much calmer, much more earnest than any others had been. It was quieter, too. He looked like he didn’t want anything but Kei’s company out of it.

_Give them a chance_ , Kenma’s indifferent voice said in his mind.

“Okay,” Kei said, turning quickly and walking away, a blush high and faint on his cheeks. He felt like his face was on fire, though.

“Yeah?” Tetsurou shouted after him, sounding excited, but Kei didn’t say anything else.

The rest of his morning and his afternoon went smoothly, with no interruptions besides the bigger amount of conversation towards him from the trio, during lunch. He didn’t give them any attention, though, deciding to be nice.

After dinner, Kei decided to watch the volleyball matches, since he had free time. Unlucky for him, both Tetsurou and Koutarou had that the sport as their assigned activity for that period, and caught onto him as he headed for the court.

“Hey, hey, Tsukki!” Koutarou called, excitedly. He was like a wind-up toy.

“Hey, four-eyes,” Tetsurou said, voice a lot colder now, as if it could be sneaky. He put an arm around Kei’s shoulders, and that made the son of Hermes tense up. “You going to volleyball?”

Kei should say something else. He should change his mind, walk to his cabin and spend his time there, rid himself of the boys’ teasing.

“Yeah,” he answered instead, and mentally cursed himself.

“Ahh, nice,” Koutarou grinned, clapping his hands a couple of times. “You can watch us play! I’m gonna destroy you, Kuro!”

“Dream on, Bo,” Tetsurou laughed, and looked back at Kei. “You can join in, if you want.”

A part of Kei’s mind echoed, _give them a chance_ , but he quickly decided he was already doing enough by not absolutely pushing them away.

“No, I’m good, thanks,” Kei smiled, removing Tetsurou’s arm from his shoulders.

He wasn’t an expert at volleyball – far from it, actually. He didn’t even pay a lot of attention to the matches that went on while he watched. Still, it was easy for anyone to tell Tetsurou and Koutarou were really good, very energetic and determined. Seeing them go against each other made the air almost buzz with electricity, and a couple of the demigods watching were betting whether Tetsurou would burn Koutarou, or Koutarou would drain the colour from Tetsurou.

The game was entertaining enough for an outsider, a layman who barely understood the basics of volleyball. Kei was thankful, though, when everyone started being called for the campfire singalong.

As usual, the Apollo cabin kids were already getting ready to lead the other campers, and a few sparse groups were sitting around the fire. He had come from the volleyball court with Koutarou and Tetsurou, and they met Keiji, who looked freshly showered. Koutarou walked over to him, and if Kei thought he was enthusiastic in general, he definitely hadn’t noticed how he was with Keiji.

“Kuroo.”

Tetsurou turned around, a small smile blooming on his lips, “You can call me by my given name, Tsukki.”

“Don’t- ugh. Kuroo. Why don’t you hang around your siblings for the singalong?”

“Oh. That. See, I’m not exactly a great singer. I’m an average poet, sure, but singing-”

“He’s a great poet,” Keiji interrupted, walking closer. He and Koutarou had intertwined their fingers and, even if Kei had never noticed they were together romantically, it wouldn’t be surprising.

“Thanks, Keiji, but it’s not all that…”

“Don’t let him be humble with you, Tsukishima,” Keiji shrugged, looking at Kei.

“Anyway,” Tetsurou smiled wider, nudging Kei to get his attention. “For some reason, I prefer to spend the time with these _assholes_ ,” he added, glaring at Keiji. “And, hopefully with you, if you want to?”

Kei looked down, not wanting to turn Tetsurou down immediately. Poor guy, he seemed hopeful about all of this, insistent, but gentle. How had he gotten to Kei’s heart? “We’ll see,” he said, trying to put some warmth into his voice.

After the campfire singalong, Kei went to his cabin and slid into his bed, feeling his heart beat fast and his mind race.

Hanging out with the trio turned out to be a lot better than he’d imagined. Although he was a bit hesitant at first, cold and dry in their company, soon he warmed up to their presence and couldn’t help laughing at their jokes. Koutarou was very much the dumb, joker type, but he also seemed kind, and with a big heart. He also seemed to glow a bit every time Keiji laughed at his jokes or kissed him on the cheek, which was cute. Keiji was quiet, but friendly, and Kei had liked him a lot, because he saw a bit of himself in the son of Thetis. Tetsurou, finally, was sly and sarcastic, a bit like Kei himself, but in an entirely different manner. He was extroverted, and that already took him on an entirely different path. He was funny and courteous, though, so Kei had enjoyed his company, too.

He felt like he might actually spend the campfire singalongs in their company, more often. That had already surprised him, the trio growing on him; it wasn’t what had shocked him the most, though.

When the last song rolled around, and everyone was starting to get their things together, some people already heading to their cabins, Tetsurou had turned to him with a soft smile on his face. “Say, Tsukki.”

“Hm?” Kei turned to him, still smiling from a previous joke. His face turned serious and almost wary when he saw the look on Tetsurou’s face.

“Do you want to spend the Fourth of July with us?”

Just like he’d done before, Kei swallowed. “I can check my plans. We’ll see.”

Kei felt, though, that he probably would. Thinking back, in his bed, about the evening he’d just had, he felt his heart quite fond of the trio. He never thought he would feel like that, but he felt like they could become friends.

Across the next few days, he wouldn’t admit it, but there was no better word for how he got along with Keiji, Koutarou and Tetsurou than ‘friends’. He didn’t have the same connection with any of them as they had between themselves, but that was obvious, since he had barely spoken to them before this. Despite all that, they treated him as if he had always been a part of the gang, and he fit in with them with such ease, all the campers were a bit startled; no one had ever expected to see him with a group like that. Not even himself.

When the Fourth of July rolled around, Kei knew there was no other option for him, other than to watch the fireworks with his new friends. He was even excited for it, a bit, although he would not admit it. The day passed incredibly slow, each activity seeming to take hours and hours to be done.

An hour before sunset, people started heading towards the fireworks beach, taking towels, picnic baskets and other small, assorted things. Kei found the trio waiting for him near the Apollo cabin and, even if he also wouldn’t admit _that_ , the fact that they waited for him made him feel loved.

“Hey, four-eyes! Didn’t know if you would come,” Tetsurou grinned, the breeze making his bangs flutter on his forehead.

“Ha! You owe me five drachmas, ‘Kaashi,” Koutarou laughed, sticking his face into the crook of Keiji’s neck. Kei looked away, feeling like it wasn’t his place to watch that.

“Shut it, rainbow boy,” Keiji grumbled, but there wasn’t anything actually mean about his tone.

“Don’t worry, they’re always like that,” Tetsurou said to Kei, soothing him. It seemed like he’d noticed Kei was flustered. “You’ll get used to it. Now, come on, we’re not gonna get a spot on the beach.”

They did find a spot, in the end, although it didn’t end up being very big. They were huddled close together, Keiji and Koutarou holding hands in the front and Tetsurou and Kei behind them, watching the violet sky and waiting for the first fireworks.

As usual, they were indescribable; the Hephaestus cabin outdid themselves every year. Kei didn’t even know all the scenes they portrayed, so he made a mental note of asking Kenma, sometime.

“Tsukki?”

Kei looked to the side, and Tetsurou was so close, his breath caught in his chest. When had they gotten so close? Not only that, what was happening in Kei’s chest, that made him want to lean forward and close the distance between them? He’d ask where this was coming from, but as his eyes fell to Tetsurou’s lips, he noticed it wasn’t the first time he’d watched them.

“Can I… Can I kiss you?” Tetsurou whispered, and Kei didn’t even reply, closing his eyes and kissing him.

The fireworks barely did justice to the way Kei felt when he kissed Tetsurou, the raven cupping his jaw and gently pulling him even closer, and the blonde resting his arms around Tetsurou’s neck.

For a second, Kei wondered whether kissing between demigods was any different to kissing between mortals. Because Tetsurou had probably transferred some of that hereditary sun-warmth to him, with how hot Kei’s face felt.

“We’ll see?” Tetsurou teased once they pulled apart, and Kei huffed, kissing him quickly.

They looked forward again, and caught Keiji and Koutarou both turning to face the sea quickly, and that only made Kei’s face burn brighter. Tetsurou shoved them both, though, so Kei didn’t have to do anything.

(Besides realise the weight of Tetsurou’s fingers in his. No one had to ask him to do that; he hoped no one ever would.)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> find me:  
> twitter: sweulgis  
> tumblr: gymthree


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